Definition

Noun: 1. An obsolete type of gunlock: A mechanism for firing a gun, now obsolete, which uses a piece of flint held in a hammer. When the trigger is pulled, the hammer strikes a steel plate (the frizzen), creating sparks that ignite the gunpowder charge. 2. A type of muzzle-loading firearm: A gun (such as a musket or pistol) that is loaded from the muzzle (the open end of the barrel) and is equipped with this specific flintlock firing mechanism.

Examples of Usage

• Referring to the gunlock mechanism:
  • The invention of the flintlock represented a major advance in firearm technology.
  • The soldier carefully cleaned the flintlock of his musket.
• Referring to the entire firearm:
  • The museum displayed a beautifully engraved 18th-century flintlock.
  • He collected antique flintlocks from the Napoleonic era.

Advanced Usage

• Historical Context: The term is primarily used in historical, military, or collecting contexts to describe technology prevalent from the early 17th to mid-19th centuries.
  • Flintlock weapons were standard issue for armies during the American Revolution.

Variants and Related Words

• Flintlock Pistol: A handgun equipped with a flintlock mechanism.
• Flintlock Musket: A long-barreled shoulder arm (a musket) equipped with a flintlock.
• Gunlock (n): The general mechanism of a firearm that causes ignition. The flintlock is one specific type of gunlock.
• Frizzen (n): The L-shaped steel plate against which the flint strikes to create sparks in a flintlock.
• Muzzleloader (n): Any firearm loaded through the muzzle. A flintlock is one type of muzzleloader.

Synonyms

• Firelock: A historical term often used synonymously with flintlock, though it can sometimes refer more broadly to any gunlock using sparks for ignition.
• Flint gun: A less common descriptive synonym.

Related Phrases and Terms

• "Set at half-cock": A safety position on a flintlock (and other guns) where the hammer is partially pulled back, preventing accidental firing. This phrase entered general language to mean a state of unpreparedness.
  • The project is still at half-cock; we need more planning.
• "Flash in the pan": This idiom originates from flintlocks. It refers to the gunpowder in the priming pan flashing but failing to ignite the main charge, thus the gun does not fire. It now means a promising start that leads to nothing.
  • His early success was just a flash in the pan; he never won another match.

Noun

1. an obsolete gunlock that has flint embedded in the hammer; the flint makes a spark that ignites the charge
2. a muzzle loader that had a flintlock type of gunlock